YMMV / K

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Shiro. The end of the first season cleared up the business with the murder video, but he's still hard to pin down. He seems to be a kind, compassionate King, but he does tend towards a lot of irresponsible actions. That said, these actions are made in pretty desperate situations, and in some cases seem to be the only option. There wasn't exactly a better way to stop the body-snatching colorless king currently on a rampage in Shiro's school besides killing him.
    • Is Shiro a Messianic Archetype who truly believes in the goodness of humanity, or is he a Smug Super who oozes Condescending Compassion and is only so infallibly good because he cannot comprehend why people would do bad things?
  • Saruhiko Fushimi - Jerkass Woobie or just plain Jerkass?
    • Lost Small World gives some much-needed insight into his decision to leave HOMRA for Scepter 4 - he really didn't fit in with HOMRA, but he and Munakata had an almost instantaneous connection. Kusanagi seemed to realize he would lose Fushimi to the Blues as soon as he noticed them looking at each other.
    • That and his home situation, which gives some background to his trust issues.
    • Then, the way he risks his life on an undercover mission for Scepter 4 in season 2, and how Misaki understands his side after that, and tells Saruhiko that he's not a traitor. He complains about it like he usually does, but he still does it. And when he has the chance to abandon the mission and save himself, he turns it down completely.
    • Even so, the general Stalker with a Crush impression he gives off in the first season, the way he's so quick to settle into "Then Let Me Be Evil" when Misaki thinks of him as a traitor, and the way he interacts with Misaki in several places - including but not limited to actually throwing knives at him in a fight (though he did heat the knife first) - have led a lot of fans to see their relationship as irredeemable and toxic, and Fushimi as a completely awful person. Not that they all see this as a bad thing, but that's a different issue.
  • Munakata acts like such a sadistic son-of-a-bitch one could easily mistake him for a villain. While he seems to be a force for good, how much of what he does is for the sake of protecting people and how much is simply an excuse for him to do as he pleases without consequence? His preference of toying with his opponents lends credence to the latter interpretation.
• Ass Pull: Shiro returning alive and well without a scratch in season 2 despite having his entire upper body blown clean off by Mikoto. It's Hand Waved as his King's power, but it's still a less than satisfactory explanation for surviving something as powerful as Mikoto's attack. Made even more confusing by the fact that the attack allegedly killed the Colorless King, despite the fact that he was trapped in Shiro's consciousness, therefore being able to live within him. It happens again at the end of season 2 with Shiro returning to his old body without a scratch despite his original body being around ninety years old.
  • It's briefly mentioned in K: Missing Kings Movie that the Gold clan retrieved Shiro's body and 'salvaged' it. Thus leading to the theory that Shiro was able to preserve his body's state using his power, but the Gold Clan was able to restore it since their clan probably has the technology/resources to do it.
• Awesome Music:
  • The opening song: "KINGS" by angela.
  • Kuroh's theme "Yatogami Kuroh".
  • The track "Knock-On Effect", which tends to connote that something cool and plot-related is occurring.
  • Tatara's theme song, "TotsuKa Tatara", is simple but painfully touching.
  • "Knight", the track that plays during the battle between Saruhiko and Misaki.
  • Saruhiko's theme "Knife", which doubles as theme for his and Misaki's broken relationship.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Neko. While a lot of fans enjoy her, many others find her extremely annoying, and a few have even dropped the show because they couldn't stand her.
  • Anna Kushina was pretty well liked during the first season. However, cue the movie and the second season, where she becomes the new Red King, and some of her fans have switched to bashing her, calling her a Replacement Scrappy who is not as well-developed or cool as Mikoto.
• Cargo Ship:
  • Izumo Kusanagi x Bar.
  • Kuroh Yatogami x Voice Recorder.
  • Reisi Munakata x Puzzles.
  • Anna Kushina x Marbles
  • Saruhiko Fushimi x Knives
  • Misaki Yata x Skateboard
  • Yashiro Isana x Umbrella
  • Seri Awashima x Red Bean Paste
• Complete Monster: The Seventh and Colorless King stands out among a series of Anti-Villains and misguided gang leaders as a knowingly sadistic, wholly villainous entity. Kicking the conflict of the first season off by needlessly killing a pacifistic HOMRA member and framing Yashiro Isana just because he feels like it, the Colorless King uses his ability to Body Surf to jump into various people throughout the series and cause the maximum amount of chaos he can. Luring SCEPTER 4 members to an airship he has stolen, the Colorless King bombs the airship and crashes it into the middle of a city, and later taunts the imprisoned HOMRA King Mikoto Suoh that he's going to begin killing off HOMRA members, even threatening to rape and torture Mikoto's surrogate little sister Anna Kushina. Luring the forces of SCEPTER 4 and HOMRA into a gang war at Ashinaka High School and bombing parts of the place, endangering the students there, the Colorless King hopes for SCEPTER 4 and HOMRA to wipe each other out so he can steal the powers of their Kings, uncaring that it could lead to the deaths of everyone in the school. As a last-ditch ploy, the Colorless King tries to kill Anna and possesses a high school girl to use as a shield in his attempt to murder Yashiro/Adolf K. Weismann.
• Die for Our Ship: Any female characters are likely to be bashed, along with Seri who is obviously intended to be paired with Izumo Kusanagi. Poor Kukuri gets this the most, for being close to Shiro when the fans prefer him with Kuroh and not having much connection to the main plot other than getting bodyjacked in Episode 11. It's silly, since the creators obviously prefer him with Kuroh as well, and Kukuri shoots down the idea of her liking Shiro in the very first episode (and she looks like she means it). Not to mention the fact that she doesn't remember who he is. Neko also gets this, but not to such an extent because of her general childlike personality and involvement in the central storyline.
  • It's not just girls - Reisi Munakata gets this as well, from Mikoto/Totsuka shippers, and sometimes even SaruMi shippers... despite the fact that Misaki understands Saruhiko's devotion to Reisi as his King, and that's why they can be friends again, or more.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Fushimi sometimes gets painted as a straight-up woobie by fans, instead of the selfish, sadistic, possible Jerkass Woobie he is in canon. Yes, he has a troubled past and a very reclusive nice side, but he also betrayed HOMRA, drugs an innocent student, and taunts Yata at every opportunity.
  • Misaki is often blamed by some fans for Fushimi's and Yata's break up, for apparently not paying enough attention to Fushimi or choosing to associate with someone else besides Fushimi. All official material showing that Yata did indeed try to patch things up with Fushimi and figure out what was wrong with Fushimi is seemingly ignored.
  • Hidaka in Days of Blue Chapter 1 seems to kind of view Fushimi in a similar light, but thinks Fushimi just has a Jerkass act. He thinks Fushimi wants to open up to everyone and invites him to their party. To nobody's surprise Fushimi cruely rejects Hidaka's offer.
  • Turns out, in Lost Small World, that he does have a Freudian Excuse for rejecting absolutely everyone as he comes from a household with a mother's who's always gone and an emotionally abusive father. This would also explain why he has no idea how to interact properly with people, why he latched onto Misaki the way he did, and why he is so messed up in general.
  • He gets a lot of character development by the second season, and he seems to have grown out of all of that.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Members of Homura. Especially Izumo, Anna, and Yata. Kamamoto is very popular on /a/.
  • SCEPTER4 gets their share, too—especially Fushimi. Then Akiyama and Doumyouji, thanks to Memory of Red.
    • Akiyama became one early on before Memory of Red because he was noted by fans to be really 'handsome'.
  • Ashinaka High's cleaning robots. Really.
• Fan-Preferred Couple: Averted - the couples that you would think would be this are actually fairly close to canon, with new posters in almost every issue of Spoon 2Di giving us more and more of Saruhiko and Misaki getting very close to each other. Kuroh and Shiro, and Mikoto and Reisi, as well, though SaruMi is the most popular ship.
  • Compare this older Official Artwork to this newer one. Notice how Fushimi and Yata are now in front of the image rather than in the back like they were place in the older Official Artwork.
  • A lot of people ship Adolf K. Weismann with Daikaku Kokujouji, despite Kokujouji and Klaudia showing interest in each other, and Adolf being with Kuroh.
  • Reisi/Saruhiko is also fairly popular, though usually on the side of SaruMi, not instead of.
• Fetish Retardant: In K: Return of Kings the blatant fanservice from Seri in the first episode was very distracting and widely ridiculed.
• Genius Bonus: For those familiar with the legend of Damocles and the king of Syracuse the whole concept stops being just "cool names and awesome powers". The Seven Kings represent Damocles, the Slate his King and their Swords of Damocles the heavy sword the king hang over Damocles' head with a horse hair when he made him acting king, as a reminder that his luck could run out at any time and that there's always a danger. Just as Damocles, the Seven Kings can never be sure when or if their sword is going to fall and kill them.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In Episode 2, Kuroh finds out that Shiro's story about his "little sister" is fake, and confronts him while dropping the badass line "How's your sister doing, Yashiro Isana?" Then in Episode 11, we discover Shiro's true identity...
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Colorless King's final goal was to steal every kings powers. We all know how that turned out. He was killed without managing to steal even one. Ironically, the laziest, grumpiest and snarkiest member of the cast, Fushimi Saruhiko, one upped him without even trying. Colorless King 1, Fushimi 2.
  • In season two Fushimi actually has a grand total of THREE clan powers. Somewhere the Colourless King's spirit is crying.
• Ho Yay:
  • Yashiro is not so shy about blushing around Kuroh, even to his face (as seen in Episode 3 when he shyly asks if he could call Kuroh by his first name. And then in Episode 4, Yashiro jokingly calls Kuroh his wife.
    • Several pieces of official art show them cuddling, and touching quite intimately.
  • Between Suoh and Munakata. When discussing the ticking Time Bomb-status Suoh's powers are rapidly climbing to, Suoh proposes that one way Munakata can keep on eye on that if killing is not an option is to keep him company 24/7. In a cell. Hell, the entire conversation exudes Ho Yay subtext. Also, in episode 10, there is Reisi and Mikoto on the ground with Suoh pinned under Munakata and their faces close enough to kiss.
  • Mikoto and Totsuka. Totsuka was Mikoto's most loyal follower before his death at the beginning of the series. Mikoto also wears Totsuka's earring as a remembrance.
  • Between Saruhiko and Misaki. Saruhiko left HOMRA because he was so tired and jealous of the rest of HOMRA, especially Mikoto for having Misaki's love, pride and attention, while he himself gets more and more ignored. It was so painful for him that it led him to a Love Makes You Crazy breaking point, where he would go to extreme lengths to hurt Misaki and even himself in front of Misaki, as he would rather have Misaki hate him than feel nothing for him at all.
    • In The Movie, Yata swallowing his pride and blushingly thanking Fushimi for helping rescue Anna, could be interpreted as Ho Yay by some.
• I Knew It!:
  • Many people on forums and WMG correctly guessed that Shiro is actually Weismann. Doesn't make it any less epic of a plot twist though.
  • Many people guessed that Mikoto was going to be Killed Off for Real from early on in the series.
• Iron Woobie: Yata. Beaten 2 times by Kuroh, lost his target 2 times, best friend left him to join an opposing clan Scepter 4, and Totsuka died in his arms. Despite all that, Yata keeps pushing himself forward and will even skip breaks that may be a bit detrimental to his health just so he can capture Totsuka's killer.
  • Izumo counts as well. His two best friends die within days of each other, Tatara right in front of him after having to listen to him fade over the phone and being just a tad too late, and Mikoto after slowly wasting away under the grief until Munakata had to kill him. Despite this he keeps himself together remarkably well, stays HOMRA's rock when he isn't traveling across the globe to help Anna (his absence actually causes HOMRA to more or less break apart) and essentially takes over as Anna's sole parantel figure as well.
• Jerkass Woobie: Fushimi. Often gives harsh criticism to others while belittling them. Doesn't show mercy even to his former allies. Won't even mingle with his own members from Scepter 4. The only time he doesn't show the 'I've got a stick shoved up my ass' face is when he's with Yata (but then he's got the 'I'm bat shit insane' happy face). He's even meaner towards Yata and provoking a fight at every opportunity. Though underneath it all, Fushimi does hold some morals and cares deeply about Yata. He's really upset that he's no longer the only important person in Yata's life (the only person he has ever opened up to). Fushimi doesn't want to share Yata with anyone else. Leaving Homra in hopes that Yata will follow him into Scepter 4. Upon failing to get Yata to follow him, he falls further into his jealously due to isolation and is willing use childish means to get Yata's attention. Not to mention that he was emotionally abused by his father as a child, bullied and always alone until Misaki made an effort to befriend him.
  • Mikoto. He stops at nothing to avenge Totsuka's death, even endangering his own men and normal people's lives. On the other hand, he does try to keep his men out of it and showing Anna genuine affection by letting her sleep next to him on the last night of his life, and using his last breath apologize for having to leave her. It's noted that when he was being taunted by the Colorless King while he was in prison, he didn't react until Anna was being threatened. The look on his face when he saw her after his badass breakout, and she ran up to him before taking his hand spoke volumes about how much she meant to him, even if he wasn't that expressive. And then there is the fact that he is dying and his actions actually quicken his death. The Colorless king's threats against her were another reason for him to want to kill him so badly.
  • Reisi turns out to be this. For most of the series, he seems cold and calculating, even a bit cruel. And then we realize the true extent of his worry about Mikoto, and see how desperate he is to save Mikoto from destroying himself. His expression when he realizes there's no way but to kill Mikoto after his attempts to save him have failed is one of the most heartbreaking moments of the anime. The consequences of what he'd been forced to do in Season 1 become apparent at the end of K: Missing Kings, and during the entirety of Season 2, when his life is hanging in the balance.
• Les Yay: A few, as well.
  • Sumika appears to have something for her friend Kukuri. She also blushed furiously when she saw Neko. This is highlighted in Sumika's side story in the collection of short stories 'K All characters'.
  • Sakura Asama has a very obvious crush on Chiho Hyuuga.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Since it was obvious from the beginning that the story would revolve around Shiro, there's no way that Kuroh would be able to kill him so early on in the series.
• Lost in Medias Res: One of the most common complaints against the first episode or the entire series so far. The narrative drops the viewers in a battle between some unknown organisations who also want to capture our seemingly clueless protagonist for no apparent reason. The situation between the clans and the reason Shiro is wanted among them are gradually explained.
• Magnificent Bastard: In Return of Kings the joint leaders of JUNGLE operate meticulously to create what they believe will be a better world for everyone:
  • Nagare Hisui, the Green King, believes the power of the Dresden Slate should be shared amongst all of mankind and challenged the powerful Gold King for control of it, coming to near victory until he was forced to retreat as his own power ran out. Plotting for the next 14 years with his mentor and adoptive father the Grey King, Nagare creates JUNGLE and manipulates the monstrous Colorless King to work as a distraction for their plans while waiting for the Gold King to die before moving into action directly. Through an online site, Nagare causes chaos as he empowers civilians, bringing JUNGLE to the public and eventually forcing the Silver King, Adolf K. Weismann/Yashiro Isana, to confront him. Stealing the Dresden Slate with a daring scheme, Nagare activates its power and begins strengthening all of humanity, only stopped when Yashiro destroys his own Sword of Damocles to neutralize the Slate. As he passes, Nagare fondly remembers his time with the core members of JUNGLE, before remarking he is "satisfied" with the outcome despite his loss, cementing himself as one of Yashiro's most noble and gracious adversaries.
  • Tenkei Iwafune is an easy-going, playful Team Dad to JUNGLE, serving as the surrogate father to Nagare Hisui while masking his true identity as the Grey King. Originally the beloved King Seitō Ōtori, his entire clan was lost in a Damocles Down, but he managed to find and successfully go into hiding with Nagare for 14 years while they developed JUNGLE together. In between scheming the theft of the Dresden Slate with Nagare and defeating the Blue King in single combat, Iwafune keeps JUNGLE's base tidy, throws dinner parties for his partners, and comes to care for all of JUNGLE as a surrogate family. Though defined by cynicism, Iwafune hopes to use the Dresden Slate to endow all of humanity with great power so people can better protect themselves, and has absolute loyalty to assisting Nagare in accomplishing this goal. Even when finally overwhelmed only through all of SCEPTER 4, Iwafune sets JUNGLE's base to self-destruct, orders friend and foe alike to evacuate, and finds Nagare's fallen body after his defeat at the hands of Adolf K. Weismann, cradling his adopted son in his arms as their base collapses around them and happily remarking that the time they had together was fun.
• Moe: Anna. Especially in this radio drama.
  • Also, Kukuri and Neko have their cute moments as well.
  • Shiro is moe incarnate. Particularly with Neko in cat form on his shoulder.
• Moral Event Horizon: Totsuka's killer really crosses it in episode 9, when he threatened to kill both Kusanagi and Yata, as well as to do things to Anna, who is an 11 year old child. Needless to say, Mikoto wasn't pleased, at all.
• Mind Game Ship: How ReiSaru is normally played out, since Munakata is something of a Manipulative Bastard and Fushimi is pretty messed up.
  • Also Fushimi/Yata, since Fushimi is a Stalker with a Crush who takes great delight in taunting Yata, to the point where he's essentially a walking Berserk Button for the kid.
• Narm: In episode 11, when HOMRA psyche themselves up for the upcoming battle with SCEPTRE 4, they chant "No Blood! No Bone! No Ash!". Not only is the English vaguely amusing, they're also stomping as they chant. The thing is, the stomping is synchronized, and due to the odd animation, it looks they're doing the can-can while they get ready to wage war.
  • Also in Episode 11, they shoehorn a pantyshot into the scene where Shiroh gets stabbed. The drama was instantly diffused!
  • Homra chanting their battle cry, accompanied by a mournful male chorus in Episode 13. It's supposed to be heartrending, but it's trying a bit too hard.
  • Also when Shiro orders Kuroh to leave the island with Kukuri. It's supposed to be a tense, emotional moment, because it's likely Shiro is going to his death, but when Kuroh leaves he sort of...trots away, and it looks very silly.
  • In Return of Kings, the flashback to when Iwafune found Nagare at the Kagutsu crater incident. It's supposed to be younger, pre-Jade-Colored Glasses Iwafune, but his voice actor barely even bothers to sound any different, so it just comes across as silly when the lines are shock and horror at the incident that made him lose his idealism, still sounding like he does twelve cynical years later. Not that the writing is golden, either - the scene would be cheesy even with the best voice acting.
  • Nagare's character design. He's wearing something that looks like he got it at a Halloween pop-up store. His hair looks okay, until the last episode, when his power makes it stand up by itself like he's in some cheesy shonen fighting show.
  • The ridiculously over the top fanservice centered on Awashima in Return of Kings. The first season was nothing compared to now and that despite the pan from her butt to her boobs used every time she fought. Now barely a scene passes in which her panties or boobs aren't on blatant display and episode 1 almost strips her completely. It's gotten to a point that even male fans - who are supposed to be drawn in by this because Male Gaze is a thing - started complaining that it took away from the drama of the show itself.
  • The extensive use of Stock Footage can be this, especially in scenes that are supposed to have a large impact. Especially so when it's Stock Footage from the first season, as seen during episode 1 of ROK where the sword draw sequence of the very first episode is reused, with the small addition of Fushimi. The change in quality is so obvious that it's laughable.
• No Yay: In Gakuen K, Anna's age is changed so she's in her thirties even though she still looks like a kid.
• Padding:
  • Main complaints for Episode 2. Instead of getting the plot progressing or answering questions, it's filled with a comical chase between Shiro, Kuroh, and Neko. Heavily happens in season 2, with much screen time dedicated to reuse of animation and flashbacks.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: A few.
  • Kuroh and Yashiro - KuroShiro. Sometimes also called Black and White.
  • Fushimi and Yata - SaruMi by the Japanese and English fandoms.
  • Mikoto and Reisi - MikoRei is used a lot by the English fandom.
• Retroactive Recognition: Jungle member Yukari Mishakuji is voiced by Chris Hackney. This was six years prior to Hackney’s breakout role as Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd.
• The Scrappy: Kukuri. Despite being hardly relevant to the plot, she keeps showing up, which makes some Kuroh/Shiro fans think she'll be pushed as a love interest for one or the other of them. It doesn't help that in all of her appearances, she has displayed the same stereotypical Nice Girl personality, and never given any sort of backstory or motivations. Then when she actually becomes relevant...
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The lack of information regarding the plot during the promotional stage - along with the beautiful artwork and animation - are what drew attention to the series at first.
• The Woobie:
  • Shiro. Turns out all his memories from ever since he was a child was one big lie. Just imagine calling your friend to realize that she doesn't even know who you are, calling home to find out that the number does not exist, and finally taking a train back home - to realize that where your home is meant to be, there is nothing but an abandoned stadium... This isn't even getting into how everyone wants him dead. And even when he's scared enough to cry, the poor guy refuses to give in and still remains upbeat about it.
  • Kuroh and Neko in the K:Black and White Side Novel.
    • Both lost their parents when they were children. Neko used her powers to trick a couple into thinking that she is their child. She realizes that what she did was wrong when confronted by the Gold clan and undoes the illusion only to have the couple brand her as a monster. She leaves deciding to live a solitary life as a cat from then on.
    • As for Kuroh, after the death of his parents everyone else who took him in seemed to have met untimely deaths or bad luck causing him to be left to die by himself. It's even sadder - when Ichigen first met Kuroh, Kuroh was dying from the cold, wandering in the woods, and Ichigen saw that the only way to save Kuroh was to make him his clansmen. Things improve for him after that, though.
  • Yata and Anna by the end of the anime. They both seem to see HOMRA as a sort of surrogate family and have to deal with losing Totsuka before the series starts and Mikoto in the last episode. For Yata, there's also his issues with Fushimi, though that gets better in the end.
  • Even Totsuka gets to be this in the K: Memory of Red Manga. Totsuka's father abused him and called him "cold-hearted", which Totsuka believed of himself. When he meets Mikoto and Izumo, he's frequently beat up and targeted, but he refuses to leave their sides despite being told how dangerous it was. Then there's the event that kicked off the anime series...
  • Saruhiko Fushimi and his massive trust issues. Here's another abuse backstory, and when he finally made a friend, they join HOMRA together, and, well... expecting him to fit in well in HOMRA is like expecting Misaki to fit in well in Scepter 4. It only took three years for Misaki to realize that. Saruhiko did do some nasty things along the way - he's a Jerkass Woobie, but no less of a Woobie.

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